Reviews

Can a Nashville honky-tonk have true ‘cue?

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Name: Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ at Chief’s
Date:10/12/24
Address: 200 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37201
Order: Pork belly skewer, smoked wings, Whole hog Combo with whole hog, ribs, brisket, turkey plus fries, hush puppies, collards, and mac and cheese; Lil Piggie Combo with whole hog and ribs plus fries and baked beans (link)
Pricing: $$

Speedy: Seven years into my life as a Nashvillian, I’ve learned a few things: 

  1. The hottest level in a hot chicken joint isn’t worth it 
  2. Stay far away from Broadway during CMA Fest
  3. Don’t expect much from the Titans
  4. You’re in for a rough next day if you find yourself on Printer’s Alley late at night
  5. The barbecue is (sadly) better in Memphis, and finally…
  6. Don’t trust the food at the honky-tonks 

Finding out that the whole hog king Rodney Scott was teaming with Eric Church (a North Carolina boy originally from Granite Falls) to open a barbecue joint on top of a honky-tonk right smack in the middle of Broadway gave me hope that the last two might change.

Monk: The Rodney Scott/Eric Church joint venture (backed by the Pihakis Restaurant group on the food side) was originally announced in January 2022. It would open in a location that formerly housed another honky-tonk Cotton Eye Joe, which was owned by John Rich of Big & Rich fame. It was expected to open sometime in 2023 but didn’t actually open until April of this year. While the top two floors are the actual restaurant, they do have a walk-up window on the street level that serves food to hungry patrons on Broadway from breakfast through dinner. 

Speedy: Our group of six got to Rodney Scott’s ahead of the dinner rush and were seated pretty quickly on the 5th floor of Chief’s (the lower of the two floors devoted to Rodney Scott’s). The dining area is fairly small but there are seats at the bar too as well as a smoker room right off to the side. Definitely not your typical barbecue joint. In true Barbecue Bros fashion, Monk and I ordered a bit of everything on behalf of the group, which they happily obliged. Food was delivered quickly, so we dug in.

No surprises here, but the whole hog took the proverbial cake and was the crowd favorite. Peppery and tender, every bite had a bit of smoke and was as good as I’d had from Rodney Scott in Charleston (alas, I have not been to Hemingway). The whole hog alone is reason to visit Rodney Scott’s. It is a must order item and I am ready to declare it the best smoked pork in Nashville.

Monk: Best in Nashville? That’s high praise! The ribs were the consensus second favorite meat of the meal, or perhaps even 1a to the whole hog depending on who you asked. The man just knows his way around a rack of ribs. What was less successful, and perhaps expectedly so, was the brisket. Compared with the rest of the meats, it simply failed to measure up.

Turkey may not have been the crowd favorite but it was a very solid meat that gave us a respite from the other, richer meats. Another mark in the “pro” column for ordering turkey at barbecue joints.

Speedy: The wings were another standout meat, with solid seasoning and good smoke. I preferred this as an appetizer to the pork belly skewer. While I do love a good meat on a stick, I thought the pork belly was a little overcooked, and slightly tough.

Monk: As for sides, we got a few different options: collards, baked beans, mac and cheese, fries, hush puppies, and cornbread. All were above average and our group more or less finished what was there between the two platters. 

Next time I’m honky-tonkin’ on Lower Broadway, I’m going to steer the group towards both Chief’s for the drinks and music as well as Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ for food. Not to mention the rooftop bar for drinks if the weather’s nice. I mean, at what other bar can you get food from a James Beard Award-winning pitmaster?

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Whole hog – 4.5 hogs
Brisket – 3.5 hogs
Ribs – 4.5 hogs
Turkey – 4 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs

Fumar brings more Tex-Mex flavors to Charlotte barbecue

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Name: Fumar
Date: 9/22/24
Address: Pop up at Divine Barrel Brewing
Order: Smoked brisket torta, Texas-sized Frito pie (link to menu)
Pricing: $$

Monk: Fumar is the retooled barbecue pop-up concept from Brandon Belfer after the more traditional Texas barbecue of his previous concept, Smoke Show Barbecue. I tried Smoke Show in 2021 and thought it showed promise and hoped to check them out again. That unfortunately never happened and a little over a year later, Fumar was born out of a desire to bring the flavors of South Texas that Belfer grew up around outside of San Antonio into his brand of Texas barbecue.

That manifests in menu items like brisket torta sandwiches, Frito pies made with smoked chorizo, and taco packs with beef cheek barbacoa in addition to the more traditional Texas-style brisket and ribs. On this day at Divine Barrel Brewing mere steps from the old Monk condo, I tried the brisket torta and Frito pie while listening to a pretty solid Grateful Dead cover band, Grateful Dudes. Here’s a photo of them jamming out with a groovy fan.

As for the torta and specifically the smoked brisket inside the torta, I found it to be well a fairly well-smoked slice of fatty that perhaps gets lost in all the bread, pickled red onions, and guac. Admittedly, I am a newbie when it comes to tortas and with this being my second sandwich ever my feedback would be the same for both: too much bread. The bread-to-meat ratio in this sandwich was a little off for me and perhaps its a super gringo thing for me to say, but maybe if there was more of a “thinwich” style of the torta bread I would enjoy the experience more. Apologies for any blasphemy.

I loved the “Texas-sized” Frito topped with smoked chorizo, queso, pickled onions, and avocado crema. The cardboard boat that it came in was truly “Texas-sized” and is very much a shareable item. They do have a kid’s version that comes in a smaller boat and is just chorizo and queso. Either way, I think this is a must order item when checking out Fumar.

I can tell that the Tex-Mex concept of Fumar has a more focused menu that is near and dear to Belfer’s heart, and the execution shows. I look forward to trying again soon (for real, this time) and continuing to track its progress.

Ratings:
Brisket Torta – 3.5 hogs
Frito Pie – 4 hogs
Overall – 3.5 hogs

Post Oak Barbecue delivers above average barbecue in Denver

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Name: Post Oak Barbecue
Date: 8/23/24
Address: 4000 Tennyson Street, Denver, Colorado
Order: Brisket, ribs, sausage, turkey, burnt ends, collards, okra (link to menu)
Pricing: $$

Speedy: Denver is not really known as a barbecue city, but Monk and I once had a great experience there at the now closed Owlbear Barbecue, which I also re-visited (and enjoyed) in 2021. So on a recent weekend trip, I knew I wanted to try barbecue for at least one meal. Fortunately, my college roommate and Denver native Leor mentioned Post Oak as his favorite in town, so we went (along with a couple of other friends). 

Monk: While our first experience with Denver barbecue was fairly average, that Owlbear Barbecue visit was quite memorable, and surely one of the best Texas barbecue experiences I’ve had outside of the state of Texas.

Speedy: Post Oak is in what looks like an old school store front, and is a long, skinny restaurant, with the ordering station on the right, and a bar on the left, and scattered tables and bar seating. It almost looks more like a bar where you’d go to have a beer and watch a game than a barbecue joint, but hopefully the food exceeds game day bar food. The team let me do the ordering, so we ordered a little bit of everything (meat-wise) minus the pulled pork, including the Friday special – burnt ends. The meat came out pretty quickly, and we were off.

Starting with the brisket – I was pretty impressed. It was well seasoned, tender, and moist, but not quite as melt-in-your-mouth as your top tier Texas brisket. Still, this was my favorite meat of the meal, and I’d return to Post Oak for it.

The turkey was also a standout. Every bite was moist, buttery, and flavorful. I am a pepper fiend and could use a little more seasoning, but still really good. There is seemingly a bit of a turkey renaissance in the barbecue world, and I’m here for it. Long live the bird!

Monk: Count me in for the turkey-ssance as well!

Speedy: The ribs and sausage were both good but not standout, and while my table all liked the burnt ends, I found them a little chewy – probably the only thing I wouldn’t order again. For the sides, the fried okra is a must order, and the collards were solid, with chunks of pork mixed in. 

While Post Oak Barbecue doesn’t look the part of traditional barbecue joint, the ‘cue turned out to be more than solid, and our whole group enjoyed the meal. All in all, another great barbecue experience in Denver.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Brisket – 4 hogs
Turkey – 4 hogs
Ribs – 3.5 hogs
Sausage – 3.5 hogs
Burnt Ends – 3 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs

Matt’s BBQ is an example of legit Texas barbecue in Portland

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Name: Matt’s BBQ
Date: 9/13/24
Address: 4233 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97217
Order: Two pounds brisket, two pounds of pork spare ribs, 2 jalapeno cheddar sausages, 2 original sausages, mac and cheese, slices of Dos Hermanos potato bread (link)
Pricing: $$

Monk: It’s that time of the year again: the annual gathering of our group of friends who graduated from High Point Central High School (this year was the 18th iteration). And with that gathering, for better or for worse there is usually barbecue. To wit, last year us Barbecue Bros forced the rest of the HPC Bros to check out Wilson County Barbecue in Portland, Maine, which was a great representation of NC whole hog.

This year, we found ourselves in the Portland located on the other coast, and after consulting Daniel Vaughn’s recent Top 50 Texas Joints Outside of Texas list after a morning hike at Wahkeena Falls, we pointed our GPS towards Matt’s BBQ and made our way towards the food truck park off N. Mississippi Avenue.

Little did we know that our lunch at Matt’s would lead to the biggest disagreement on rating to date for the Barbecue Bros. Will we survive? Ok, that’s probably overstating our disagreement on ratings but read and find out…

Speedy: Let’s start with the atmosphere. Matt’s BBQ is situated in the middle of a food truck park, with lots of picnic tables, other food trucks, and most importantly, a beer truck. I thought this was a super cool area, especially with the perfect weather we had. Certainly a cool spot to hang out, have some food, and get your grub on.

Rudy: I thought the brisket was really well done, especially for being that far away from Texas. There was plenty of fat (well rendered) that kept it from drying out. It was easy to pull apart (good for sharing) but was not a bunch of mush. The best bites were at the ends, which led to Speedy’s upcoming complaint about consistency of seasoning.

Speedy: The ribs were quite big and meaty, and cooked well, but unfortunately I thought they were inconsistently seasoned, which I also thought was true of this brisket. While there were certainly some good bites, I want to taste the salt and pepper seasoning in every bite, with full permeation of the seasoning throughout the meat. So, good quality meat cooked well, but could have been better seasoned and probably could have gotten a little more smoke on the meat.

Monk: Personally, I found no issues or inconsistencies with the brisket or ribs being under seasoned, so I was on the more positive end of the spectrum. I was on the other end of the table for our group of 8 and there was nothing but positive vibes there. And if I am recalling correctly, we finished everything on the two platters. That may be on account of my precise ordering abilities, though…

We ordered two of each of the sausages, of course accommodating Speedy’s lack of tolerance for dairy. Both beef sausages came pre-sliced which made it nice for our group but made it hard to gauge the snap in the sausage. Regardless, I felt like it was a well executed beef sausage on both fronts.

Rudy: I loved the jalapeno cheddar sausage and thought there was a good amount of spice (but not overwhelming) and plenty of creaminess from the cheddar. I thought the heat from the jalapenos did not overwhelm the flavor of the sausage but complimented it. 

The sides were also tasty and there was a big variety of options to order. However, my favorite thing of the entire experience was the pickled onions. If I had told you going into a barbecue restaurant that the best thing you’d eat would be the pickled onions, that would pretty much be a huge insult to the meat but that was not the case with Matt’s. The flavor and crunch that they added to each bite (and also by themselves) was great. The acidity of them really cut through the savory fat of the meat and added to the experience.

Speedy: Personally, I went into Matt’s with super high expectations, as I’ve been to several of the joints on the top 50 list referenced above, and left all full and happy. So while I thought the barbecue was good (and would visit Matt’s again), I was not blown away, which is my expectation for the top 50. That may not be fair, as Portland is not exactly known for barbecue, and sans list (and expectations), I would have probably been pretty happy. That said, Monk, Rudy and the other guys really enjoyed it, so I’m open to the possibility that my taste buds were just a little off that day. Hopefully, I’ll find myself in Portland again to give Matt’s another try. 

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4.5 hogs
Brisket – 3.5 hogs
Ribs – 4 hogs
Sausage – 4 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs